Yarning Along: Sick bay

Today I'm stuck at home with a poorly toddler. She's been a little lethargic all week, and spent most of yesterday evening and last night being sick. Having abandoned all plans of soft play and playgroups, we're having a quiet day at home.

I've finished the gingerbread man jumper I was knitting last week, and the pattern is now with my tech editor, so should be out by the end of the summer. This week's project is much more summery - it's a second sample of my From Breton with Love pattern after the first got scorched by the sun earlier this summer. I have a beach photo shoot planned for this one when it's done, so I have my fingers tightly crossed for at least one dry, non-scorching day before the start of the summer holidays next week!

Since I wrote about it last week, I have finished reading The Lake House. I finally decided to sit down on Saturday evening, switch off the tv and read while knitting instead. It was definitely worth it, the book was very enjoyable. The mystery in the book was tied up nicely in the final few chapters, and I didn't totally see the ending coming (I did guess a few threads, but not the whole thing). Highly recommended.

This week's book is some young adult fiction, written by the former children's laureate Julia Donaldson - Running on the Cracks. I've enjoyed the vast majority of her books for younger children [her collaborations with Axel Scheffler are my favourites (you're probably familiar with The Gruffalo even if you don't have children)], so when I saw this in a local bookshop I thought it was worth a go. I'm about fifty pages in and have so far been introduced to Leo, a girl whose parents have died and she has run away from her unhappy life with her aunt and cousins, and Finlay a teenager who has problems of his own. I can tell that this is going to be a quick read, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens.

Linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along. What are you knitting and reading this week?

Yarning Along: Christmas in July

Today's Yarning Along post sees me well in to my Christmas knitting. Yes, I know it's July, but this is a sample for a pattern that I want to have out by September 1st so that people who think July is too early for Christmas knitting can knit it in the autumn. Having said that, even before I designed knitwear for a living I thought that getting the Christmas knitting out of the way in the summer was a good plan as there's always far too much going on in November and December.

I am about to hit a stumbling block with this jumper. I have knitted the back and both sleeves and they have gone smoothly, so this morning I dug out the yarn for the front. The front will feature intarsia, and I cannot find my bobbins anywhere! I have located five, which is a pretty poor show as I own at least fifty! I'll wind the background and main colour on to the bobbins I can find, and improvise (get in a tangle) with the rest.

The weather is miserable, so I'm cheering things up with a summer-themed stitch marker

I am still reading The Lake House, but have made it to the final quarter, and am really enjoying it. The story threads are all starting to come together now, and I really want to know how it ends. Hopefully I'll find a couple of hours to finish reading it over the weekend.

Linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along. Over to her page to find out what other people are reading and crafting.